Hays Daily News, The (Newspaper) - November 18, 1999, Hays, Kansas Local forecast windy Low mostly High Northwest wind 10 to 20 page Inside today Entertainment The Hays Daily News THURSDAY November 2 18 pages 507 Kansas 785 6281081 On the Internet at Despite number of young smokers in Kansas on rise American Cancer Societys Great American observed today By JUNO OGLE HAYS DAILY NEWS Even as smokers are encouraged to quit the habit today the American Cancer Societys 23rd annual Great American the number of young smokers in Kansas is on the A study in May by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment showed more than 20 percent of the states students use tobacco products almost equal to the number of Kansas adults who Surveys conducted for the Regional Prevention Center since 1995 show that not only are more teenagers in northwest Kansas but attitudes toward underage use of tobacco are becoming more Each the Regional Prevention Centers in Kansas survey 10thand 12th grade students on their use and perceptions of alcohol and other Participation is voluntary by the and not all have schools have participated each Figures were provided by the Northwest Regional Prevention Centers in Hays cover ing Smith and Trego counties and in Colby covering the counties of Thomas and the number of students reporting they had smoked at least once in the 30 days prior to the survey increased from percent in 1995 to percent in The number of students reporting they had smoked at least once in their lifetime also increased from percent in 1995 to 46 per cent in In northwest the number of teenagers who reported smoking at least once in the previous 30 days peaked at for the Hays region in 1997 and is at percent for The Colby region has seen a decrease in those from percent in 1995 to percent this The numbers of students who reported they have ever smoked a cigarette has increased as both regionally and there are positive The average age at which teenagers take their first puff is getting from to years in the Hays region and to years in the Colby Those are the only numbers the center is glad to see said Janae com munity prevention consultant with the Regional Prevention Center of Northwest Kansas in We know the younger they the more likely they will be she The number of teenagers who think it is OK for someone their age to smoke is as is the number of students who believe they would be seen by their peers as cool for Some counties are also bucking the negative notably Cheyenne and In 30day usage which Talbott said is the best indicator of regular tobacco use those reporting they had smoked at least once dropped from 40 percent in 1995 to percent in 1999 in Rush percent to 16 per cent in Cheyenne and percent to percent in 1998 for Osborne In more than 60 percent of the teens in each county reported they had smoked at least once their Those figures have dropped into the 30and 40percent principal of La Crosse High said the turnaround in use and attitude in Rush County is due to a combination of fac tors effective education small authority figures who get involved and children who The schools SADD sponsors have brought in effective and the county local law enforcement and parents keep on top of activities and he But the main factor is probably the students Keeley Theyre just good They can be influ by someone they look up to such as a teacher or You can really talk to You have more of an influence on the choices they he See related Page Grounded at Grainfield CHARLIE RIEDEL Hays Daily News Bob walks past a multicolored pile of milo on the ground at Grainfield Wednesday The pile was dumped because of a lack of storage at the Midwest Cooperative elevator in a truck was stranded at Grainfield earlier when his driving partner accidentally left him at an Interstate 70 rest area while the pair were driving through the The various colors of grain come from different varieties of milo being dumped billion budget heads toward vote in House WASHINGTON AP Culminating a year of intense political the House is wrap ping up its work for the year with a vote on a billion budget that both congressional Republicans and the White House claim as a triumph in advancing their priorities for the future of the Both sides can be proud of this House Speaker Dennis said at the close of 10 days of negotiations on a covering everything from education and programs to foreign Without further hitches always a ity with a massive package laden with contro provisions the House was expected to vote on the measure as soon as today and the Senate by this bringing to an end this years session of Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota today said Senate action could spill over until after Thanksgiving because of objections of Midwestern senators to dairy but said the agreement deserves and will win eventual This is a huge victory and a major accom Daschle noting that one of the benefits would be bringing down the tril lion national debt by President Clinton said the agreement meets his goals to clean the reduce class size by hiring more teachers and fight crime by hiring more community This budget is a and a hardwon for the American he told reporters in where he was attending a summit of European It wasnt until near midnight Wednesday that the two sides agreed that they had settled differences on the last remaining holdup White House insistence that federal agencies get some flexibility in carrying out the GOP proposal of an White House budget director Jack Lew and I just made the Pete R chairman of the Senate Budget The budget has been agreed Passage would give both Republicans and Democrats the fodder they need to return home claiming Regents discuss Hays State University merger TOPEKA AP Fort Hays State University and Pratt Community College believe bigger is but the Kansas Board of Regents says it needs more time to consider a proposed merger of the Merger talks between the two insti have been under way for two years and both agree its a good the which oversees community must approve the merger for it to take The Commission for Higher Education Coordination considered the proposal but it postponed any action until at least its 30 The commission is part of the board and is composed of three Fred the commissions chair said he doesnt know when the board will take action on the merger which he In the time frame of its impossible to handle something of this magnitude thats what Im hearing from other said of I dont want this proposal to just die on the Part of the reason for the delay is that regents are considering general guidelines for any merger by schools under their MERGER SEE PAGE A6 5 die when bonfire logs fall COLLEGE Texas AP A 40foot pyramid of logs being assem bled for Texas annual bonfire collapsed early today while dozens of students were climbing on At least five students were killed and 25 In the hours after the col rescuers pulled four students from the rubble alive One student wasnt pulled free until more than six hours Even after Cynthia a spokeswoman for the said crews could hear moaning and tap ping leading them to believe one or more students was still At cranes were re moving logs one by in the search for more Every piece of wood in that pile is unstable and every piece of wood that moves affects other pieces of Bart fire Students who had been looking for ward to the huge a tradition since 1909 to get fans ready for the foot ball game against archrival University of were instead in Some gathered near the a field on the northeast corner of the holding hands and praying while the rescue efforts The scene right now is a scene of said Sallie editor of the the student Meteor shower doesnt live up to billing By DIANE HAYS DAILY NEWS Even the best of shows doesnt always live up to its So John Heinrichs wasnt disappointed with Wednesdays Leonid meteor shower at Historic Fort Hays just south of an assistant professor in the geo sciences department at Fort Hays State and his were among a handful of peo ple who stayed into the wee hours of the morning for a predicted spectacular meteor shower that never Old and young alike ventured into the crisp autumn night late Wednesday in anticipation of seeing what scientists predicted could be one of the better meteor events in The Lenoid meteor showers occur when the Earth passes through the orbit of the comet Dust ejected from the comet spreads out along the orbit and through When it encounters the the annual Leonid meteor shower Astronomical calculations had predicted the middle year in a threeyear as the best to view the Leonid which occur some where between 16 and Those predictions held true in other parts of the A NASA monitoring station in recorded a peak of meteors per But it never happened quite like that Wednesday Fort Hays State University seniors Cory and Elizabeth relax on the grass at Historic Fort Hays early this morning as they watch for shooting stars as part of the Leonid meteor CHARLIE Hays Dally News not in the middle of if we were in we would be seeing quite a Heinrichs The considered a storm if the intensity of the shooting stars reach a rate of an hit a height of about per hour in Saudi Arabia Wednesday It trailed off to about 450 per hour within 90 But that was probably 10 times more than the FHSU contingent saw the entire So interested onlookers had to settle for a few oohs and ahs as debris from the meteors streaked across the night There were a lot more numbers last and this wasnt quite what I expected this said Eric an FHSU sophomore from Beloit and president of the Astronomy But we still got some good data from wasnt as disappointed as some who had viewed the Perseid Meteor Shower at Historic Fort Hays in which was reported as quite a We recorded nearly 200 showers in a Heinrichs It was pretty bright out that Heinrichs said he has been looking forward to this years shower for several He was only 9 years old during the last Leonid shower in when he wasnt even interested in But he will only be in his dur ing the next Leonid meteor shower somewhere around So Heinrichs refused to say the lack of showers Wednesday was a Im not Heinrichs We did nt see dozens of but we got to talk astron omy and meet And I just saw some predictions on the Internet today that some European astronomers predicted some of the best showers could be from 2001 to So you never he
